


Hit or Miss

by corgasbord



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, heads up: neither of them are good at it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 10:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10188224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corgasbord/pseuds/corgasbord
Summary: It's a universally agreed-upon fact that first kisses pretty much never happen in real life the way they do in movies. Shuuichi and Kaito figure that out the hard way.





	

**Author's Note:**

> seamless first kisses are cool and all but also kinda unrealistic, tbh. so here, have a couple of dumb boys trying to figure out how kissing works.
> 
> (also posted to [tumblr](http://corgiboard.tumblr.com/post/158174373350/hit-or-miss))

Shuuichi is shy, so public displays of affection aren’t exactly his forte.

In that sense, he and his boyfriend are polar opposites. Kaito Momota is the kind of person who thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to get touchy with people he’s barely familiar with, or to invite himself over to friends’ houses whenever he deems fit, or to text said friends at odd hours of the night with either random uncaptioned pictures or strange philosophical questions (there’s no in between).

This means that if any physical contact takes place between Kaito and Shuuichi, Kaito is almost always the one to initiate it. And Shuuichi doesn’t usually mind, but that doesn’t stop him from blushing every time Kaito so much as holds his hand.

It naturally follows, then, that Kaito is the one to attempt their first kiss.

It’s on a particularly clear night, and one of the many that they spend stargazing in the park near Shuuichi’s house, sitting on the grass with Kaito’s jacket spread out beneath them. This is one of Kaito’s favorite pastimes, as Shuuichi is quick to learn.

Shuuichi enjoys it, too, but for more reasons than one. Mostly, he’s glad for the opportunity to spend time alone with Kaito. The stars may be nice to look at, and it’s cool to learn something new about space every time they do this, but more often than not, Shuuichi finds that Kaito is more fun to watch than the sky. He becomes so animated when talking about his passion that his eyes seem to sparkle even brighter than the constellations he points out so enthusiastically.

Shuuichi is leaning his weight back onto his palms, his eyes trained on Kaito while the aspiring astronaut excitedly explains the phases of the moon to him. Shuuichi’s only half-listening, though, not interested in the moon so much as he is in the way Kaito looks in the light of it. The alabaster glow makes his smile all the more brilliant, and Shuuichi doesn’t even notice how much he’s allowed himself to space out until Kaito turns to him and proudly says, “Pretty cool, right?”

Shuuichi blinks at him dumbly, startled out of his reverie. “Huh? Oh- yeah, of course.”

Kaito regards Shuuichi with a little frown. “Were you even paying attention?”

Shuuichi doesn’t answer, and in the few seconds that follow, Kaito appears to realize something that brings the grin back to his face. “Aw, Shuuichi,” he chuckles, “we came stargazing for a reason. You’re supposed to be looking at the sky, not at me.”

Now thoroughly embarrassed at having been caught staring, Shuuichi tears his gaze away, tilting his head down to hide the flush rising to his cheeks and mumbling a timid “Sorry.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not like it’s something you’ve gotta apologize for.” Kaito sighs, and Shuuichi’s shoulders stiffen in surprise when he feels Kaito’s hand place itself over his.

He’s still sitting there and trying to come up with a coherent response to that when he hears Kaito speak again, his voice closer than it was before. “Hey, Shuuichi.”

Shuuichi turns his head to face Kaito again, only to see that Kaito’s eyes are closing and he's leaning in and _oh god he's really close-_

Reflexively, Shuuichi jerks away, causing him to lose his balance and topple backwards with a yelp. He ends up flat on his back, slightly winded and staring up at Kaito with wide eyes. Kaito meets his stare with an equally stunned one, leaning over him slightly, and several moments pass in awkward silence.

Then, Shuuichi splutters, “What was _that_?”

“Wasn't it obvious?” Kaito huffs, slightly miffed. “I was just trying to kiss you.”

Granted, it _was_ fairly obvious, but Shuuichi hadn't been given time to process what was happening and couldn't help panicking a little. “But- but that was completely out of nowhere. Why now, all of a sudden?” he asks, flustered.

Kaito tilts his head, considering this. “... ‘Dunno. The mood felt right,” he finally answers with a shrug. “Do I really need a reason, though?”

“I… suppose not,” Shuuichi admits, struggling to keep the stutter out of his voice. “Still, you could have at least given me a warning first, or something.”

“Ah. My bad,” Kaito says, bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck almost sheepishly. “I thought surprises were supposed to be more romantic, y’know?”

Well, most people would probably make that same assumption, Shuuichi figures. It doesn’t make the situation any less awkward, but he can give Kaito a little credit for trying, at least. “It’s fine.”

“Cool. So… _can_ I kiss you, then?” Kaito asks.

Shuuichi wasn’t expecting that, either. He’s almost not sure that he heard Kaito correctly, but Kaito is still watching him with a hopeful look, and Shuuichi decides that his ears are probably not deceiving him. The urge to reply with _I don’t know, can you?_ lingers briefly in the back of his mind, but he’s nowhere near bold enough for that, and he can’t even seem to summon words, anyway.

So Shuuichi manages a nod, and he’s not sure whether the sudden jump in his heart rate is because of the way that makes Kaito smile or the fact that he’s already lowering himself, bracing one hand on the ground next to Shuuichi’s head. Feeling oddly prone lying there and not doing anything, Shuuichi screws his eyes shut and lifts himself up onto one elbow in an attempt to meet Kaito halfway.

It doesn’t work. His forehead smacks directly into Kaito’s, and he draws back sharply with a pained grunt, grimacing and lifting a hand to his face.

When he cracks his eyes open again, he sees that Kaito is rubbing his own forehead, but clearly trying not to laugh. Now absolutely mortified, Shuuichi allows himself to sink back to the ground with a groan, both of his hands coming up to cover his face. 

“Whoops. Guess we got a little too excited there, huh?” Kaito snickers, but his tone is good-natured.

Shuuichi doesn’t answer or even look at him, too busy wishing that he could just disappear, so Kaito clicks his tongue a bit, settling nonchalantly on his side and resting his head in the palm of one hand. “Well, it’s not like this is a big deal. Just a minor setback, is all.”

At that, Shuuichi reluctantly peeks at Kaito through his fingers. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean, we can just keep trying until we get it right. Right?” Kaito takes a predictably determined stance on the matter. “Besides, third time’s the charm.” Then he winks, and Shuuichi has to suppress the urge to groan again.

Does he want to kiss Kaito? Of course. He’d be lying if he tried to claim the thought never occurred to him before, but he can’t help feeling like he’s ruined the mood.

Before Shuuichi can say anything else, though, Kaito cuts in again. “Oh, I know! Why don’t you just try kissing me instead?”

Shuuichi isn’t sure why Kaito thinks that that will work out any better than their first two attempts. Shuuichi has never kissed anyone in his life and has no clue how to go about doing so, regardless of how much thought he’s given it before. Plus, the last thing he wants to do is make an even bigger fool of himself, if that’s even possible at this point.

So he asks dubiously, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. I’ll just stay still, if that’ll make it easier,” Kaito replies. Then he pauses, his expression growing more serious as he adds, “I mean, unless you’d rather not.”

Shuuichi slowly withdraws his hands from his face, hesitating. “It’s… not that I don’t want to,” he explains carefully. “It’s just that I don’t really know how.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything. Just don’t worry so much about the details, it’ll be fine,” Kaito assures him, his chipper attitude quick to return. Shuuichi has to wonder about the reason behind Kaito’s apparent eagerness - does he just not want to give up because he’ll feel like he’s lost somehow? Or is this something he’s wanted for a while?

_Maybe I should stop reading into things so much,_ Shuuichi thinks. In fact, the source of his inhibitions is probably his overly analytical approach to everything. Maybe Kaito is right. Maybe he should try to stop thinking about how this is supposed to work and just _go_ for it.

With that in mind, Shuuichi rolls onto his side to face Kaito more fully, which makes Kaito brighten noticeably. As Shuuichi nervously scoots a bit closer, placing a hand on Kaito’s upper arm, he can feel his heart start to pound in his ears so loudly that he almost wonders if Kaito can hear it. Kaito flashes him another little smile for added encouragement, and Shuuichi decides that there’s no backing out now. Slowly, he starts to close the distance between them, keeping his own eyes open enough to focus on Kaito’s lips because he’ll be damned if he misses his mark again.

The time that it takes for him to finally connect is probably a mere few seconds, but it feels like far longer, his anticipation and nerves making each moment drag on endlessly. Shuuichi doesn’t even notice that his own lips are pressed tightly together until they awkwardly mesh with Kaito’s, and then he realizes it all too acutely and feels ridiculous. He almost retreats out of sheer embarrassment, but Kaito tilts his head into it and slides a hand around to Shuuichi’s back to pull him closer, and for a second Shuuichi is pretty sure he can’t breathe.

Gradually, however, he begins to relax, doing his best to reciprocate the gesture. It’s clumsy, and when his lips finally loosen to lock more smoothly with Kaito’s he accidentally knocks their teeth together a bit, and he thinks he might still be shaking a little, and it’s altogether one of the strangest things he’s ever experienced - but he doesn’t hate it. He couldn’t possibly hate it, even if it’s clear that neither of them know exactly what they’re doing, because this is Kaito, the only person Shuuichi can imagine wanting like this.

By the time they break apart Shuuichi is lightheaded, stupid and starry-eyed, mouth tingling like Kaito left an electric current in his wake. Kaito proceeds to fix Shuuichi with a giddy, satisfied grin, his own eyes lit up with the leftover sparks, and in spite of how his heart is still racing Shuuichi can’t help but smile a bit in return.

Kaito then shifts to lay on his back, tugging Shuuichi against his side with the movement and loosely wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Wow,” he remarks, returning his gaze to the sky. “See, that wasn’t half bad, was it? We should do it more often.”

“Mm.” Shuuichi lets out a short, distracted hum in response, deciding to let Kaito interpret that however he pleases. They may not have gotten it quite right the first time, but it could have been worse.

In fact, as Shuuichi half-consciously raises his fingers to his lips with the sensation of Kaito’s still fresh in his mind, he decides that the reward made up for the initial failure.


End file.
